This invention relates to a configuration of knife blades, particularly the cross-sectional configuration thereof, and to the methods of making such blades.
Several different cross-sectional blade configurations or grinds are commonly used in knives. One well-known configuration is the flat wedge grind, shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing. Among kitchen knives, it is most commonly used in cook's or chef's knives and in boning knives. A blade having a flat wedge grind is characterized by essentially flat side faces tapering toward one another in a V-shaped cross section to form a cutting edge. Another commonly used blade configuration is the hollow grind shown in FIG. 4 of the drawing. Hollow grind blades are characterized by parallel side faces remotely of the cutting edge and a marginal portion, typically about one half inch wide, which is concavely ground on a relatively small radius wheel, for example, 3 inch radius, to form a thin and easily-sharpened cutting edge. This configuration is most commonly used in slicing and utility or paring knives. Conventionally, the axis of the hollow grind follows the curvature of the cutting edge to the point of the blade and is therefore curved in the plane of the blade. A third blade configuration, more commonly used in hunting knives than in kitchen knives, has slightly convex side faces.
The foregoing blade configurations have long been considered satisfactory for various purposes. It is known that hollow grind blades are more easily sharpened than flat wedge or convex grind blades. However, their thin, hollow ground margins quickly wear out with repeated sharpening, limiting the useful lives of such knives. As result, better quality kitchen knives ordinarily employ a flat wedge grind blade configuration, sacrificing ease of sharpening for long useful life.
In the use of conventional kitchen knives, a number of undesirable cutting characteristics have been observed, but largely tolerated or worked around. For example, in slicing cheese, the slices tend to stick to the blades of knives having conventional cross-sectional configurations. In cutting certain types of crisp vegetables, such as carrots, conventional blades tend to slice only part way through the workpiece, thereafter undesirably breaking, without slicing through, the remainder of the workpiece. Very thin knives have been proposed to mitigate the foregoing problems. However, making a kitchen knive very thin sacrifices strength and rigidity, limiting its utility for many cutting and slicing tasks. Resorting to more flexible materials, to avoid breakage, further sacrifices rigidity. It also reduces the hardness of the knife materials, thereby impairing the ability to apply and maintain a very sharp cutting edge. Another result is a proliferation of knife thicknesses in many styles and shapes, which is uneconomical for both the manufacturers and users.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a knife blade configuration that is easily sharpened, yet has a long, useful life, and has the desired cutting characteristics of thin blades, yet has the strength and rigidity of thick blades.